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From the earliest proposals for public schooling in the U.S., researchers and practitioners have relied on comparative and international perspectives to illuminate the field of education. Today more than ever, in an era of information technology and an interconnected global economy of skills and ideas, scholars need to understand how the processes of schooling and learning vary across societies and what implications these variations have for education in the world today.

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At Penn State, an interdepartmental faculty committee offers a dual-title degree (master's and doctoral) program in Comparative and International Education (CIED). The committee maintains program definition, identifies courses appropriate to the option, and recommends policy and procedures for the program's operation to the dean of the College of Education and to the dean of The Graduate School. Members of the CIED committee also serve on the doctoral committees of stu­dents who elect the dual-title doctoral degree.

The dual-title degree program is offered through participating graduate programs in the College of Education and, where appropriate, other graduate programs at Penn State. The option enables students from different graduate programs to learn the perspectives, techniques, and methodologies of comparative and international education, while maintaining a close association with their program areas of application.Group of students standing in front of the lion shrine

Comparative and international education is a field devoted to the systematic analysis of the operation and effects of the world's education systems. For admission to pursue a dual-title degree in CIED, a student must be accepted by The Graduate School and one of the participating graduate major programs. Once a student begins his studies at Penn State, he/she may apply to an admissions committee for acceptance into the CIED program. Students complete degree requirements for their major simultaneously with those required for the CIED dual-title degree. Upon graduation, students are awarded degrees in their major field and CIED.